Planning where to publish and aligning publication choices with the university’s ‘read and publish’ agreements is essential for maximising Open Access (OA) publishing opportunities while minimising article processing charges (APCs) (Jarvis 2026). Stellenbosch University (SU) Library and Information Service leverages these agreements to support researchers by enabling them to publish their research articles OA in eligible hybrid journals without paying APCs, while also offering discounted APCs of between 10% and 55% for eligible fully OA journal titles. While these agreements have significantly reduced financial barriers to publishing, it is important to remember that not all agreements provide unlimited OA publishing (Hunter 2019).

The question that may arise for an SU-affiliated researcher is: “Why should I check the publishing allocations now?” To answer this question, please refer to the article titled: Update on Open Access publishing options for SU researchers for context. Some of these agreements include a capped number of articles that can be published OA at no direct cost to authors each year, while others offer unlimited OA publishing under the agreement. This article aims to highlight to SU authors those agreements that have thus far reached below 50% of their annual capped number of publications without paying APCs.

While some publishers, such as Sage Publishing, Elsevier, and The Company of Biologists, offer unlimited OA publishing under the ‘read and publish’ agreements, others operate on shared institutional allocations that may be exhausted before the end of the calendar year. To help SU researchers make informed publishing decisions, the Library and Information Service continuously monitors the utilisation of these allocations and has identified publishers that have reached approximately 50% of their annual quota. At the time of writing, Springer Nature has a remaining national allocation of 529 articles, while Taylor & Francis has 649 remaining for the year 2026. Researchers considering publication with these publishers are therefore encouraged to plan their submissions accordingly.

Wiley operates under a different funding model. While OA publishing in Wiley’s eligible hybrid journals is uncapped, publications in Wiley’s fully OA journals are supported through a shared national publication fund rather than an article allocation. Under this arrangement, authors from participating institutions may publish in eligible fully OA journals without paying APCs, provided sufficient funds remain available in the national publication fund at the time the manuscript is accepted for publication. For this reason, we encourage SU researchers intending to publish OA through SU’s ‘read and publish’ agreement to reach out to the SU library for OA publishing support.

For enquiries about SU ‘read and publish’ agreements or any other OA-related matters, please contact Sizwe Ngcobo,.

References

  • Hunter, P.  2019.  The deal with DEAL for open access: the recent publish-and-read deals have increased momentum for open-access publishing but may not solve the challenge of open science. EMBO reports. 21(1). 1-3.
  • Jarvis, C . 2026.  Invisible labor in open access: A case study of read & publish agreement administration at the University of Utah. The Journal of Academic Librarianship. 52(5). 1-4.